Roughly 1 million people – 2 percent of current enrollment – will be cut off of food stamps during 2016 as states re-impose the three-month limit on benefits to unemployed adults from ages 18-50 who are not disabled or raising children, says the http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=5251
The think tank says the three-month limit was waived in many states because of lingering high unemployment from the 2008/09 recession but will come into play as the jobless rate drops.
CBPP says the time limit often is described as a work requirement but only a handful of states offer job training or workfare slots for people who are unable to find work or to continue benefits to people who search for work are unable to find it. The think tank suggested that benefits should continue during job search or that Congress could extend the time limit to six months, which is similar to the average tenure on food stamps for childless adults and the same as many state unemployment programs. “But such congressional action seems unlikely,” said CBPP, urging states and charities to prepare for the impact.
“Today, with a job market that remains weak in many areas, over 40 states have waivers for some or all of their state for fiscal year 2015,” says CBPP. “Most of these waivers, however, expire after 2015. At that point, based on current unemployment rates, at most only a few states appear likely to have high levels of statewide unemployment that would qualify them for a statewide waiver, and more than 1 million childless nondisabled adults will lose SNAP (food stamp) benefits in 2016. ”
Loss of food stamps, which average $150-$200 a month for the affected people, “will likely cause serious hardship,” says CBPP because the affected people have very low income and typically qualify for no other income support. About 40 percent are women, half are white, half have a high school diploma or a GED and 80 percent live in metropolitan areas.
Some 46.5 million people received food stamps at latest count, says USDA, with the average benefit per person of $124 a month. The record was 47.8 million people during December 2012. In 2007, before the recession, enrollment averaged 26.3 million people. Cost of the program has more than doubled since 2007. Conservative Reublicans say the program has become unduly expensive and proposed the largest cuts in a generation during work on the 2014 farm law.